(Spirit Lake)—This week marks the observance of Soil and Water Conservation Week. Derek Nammany of the Dickinson County Soil and Water Conservation District tells KUOO news the week is intended to increase public awareness on soil and water conservation issues…( click here for comment .) “This week is sponsored by IDALS, which would be the Iowa Division of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. What we want to do is pretty much celebrate. We’re going to join the nation in celebrating the stewardship of our natural resources. We want to take time to appreciate what soil and water conservation can do for everybody.”
Along that line, Nammany says they’ll have some informational displays and presentations throughout the week at the Dickinson County Nature Center…(click here for comment.) “The first one on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. we’re going to have a presentation from Wayne Petersen, the state urban conservationist. He’s going to be talking about how urban conservation plays with soil and water conservation. On Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. the nature center is going to sponsor a presentation on what prairie plants can do for soil conservation. And on that Saturday we’re going to have an actual demonstration day over in Lake Park at the elementary school where we’re actually going to build a rain garden. The public is welcome to attend and they can help pitch in to help build it or they can just come by to get a rough idea on what we’re doing and hopefully we can talk to them about it.”
Locally, Nammany says they currently have several such projects either underway or about to get underway in the Iowa Great Lakes…(click here for comment.)
Officials say soil and water conservation plays an even more important role in the Iowa Great Lakes given its fragile environment.
